The ECG's Top 10 Products of 2023!
2023 was a year full of great new cake and cookie decorating products and a few surprise uses and renewed demand for some of the products that we already loved. Chances are you already own some of these and are about to discover a completely new use for them! Here are our top 10 Products of 2023 (in no particular order)...
1) Printed Icing Sheets
This group of products has never ceased to amaze the ECG. From the moment she attached one to a buttercream cake, she was in love with them but this year has proven to be the year of the icing sheet for several reasons. To begin with, they simplified the trend of Pressed-Flower cakes by completing an otherwise tedious cake in one or two steps. Watch our most-watched video of the year HERE
But that was just the beginning! Soon after, the ECG discovered that the sheets work beautifully on Cookies! Our Bridgerton Hearts proved that even someone as impatient as the ECG can make beautiful cookies. Watch HERE
It wasn't much longer before she realized that the cookie-sized icing sheets fit perfectly into a chocolate covered oreo mold, creating our most popular "anyone can do this" treat of the year. Watch HERE
Which led to the discovery that they adhere perfectly to chocolate (and chocolate coating) and making way for the most intricate Almond Barks and Candy Bars that we've ever made!
2) The Sprinkle Pen by Sweet Elizabeth
In her never-ending quest to ditch the tweezers, the ECG has tried a lot of gadgets, so when she was contacted by these guys about their new pen, she gave them the polite pass. So they sent her one to try first hand. The soft food-safe wax tip on this thing has the perfect amount of grip and forms itself to whatever shape sprinkle you're using! It can be reshaped with your fingertips between shapes, and if it starts to lose its grip from lustre-covered pearls, you can simply crank out a new tip by twisting the base of the pen. Stop searching...this is the ONE!!! Watch HERE
3) Stay Put Stencils
Since we introduced these bad boys last year, word has spread that they are the easiest way to stencil dried Royal Iced cookies and French Macaron Shells (which the ECG already knew). But once in the hands of you lot, new uses have been poppin up in the ECG's newsfeed daily! Did you know that they work on chocolate with the ECG's Airbrush Colors? Or how about on Chocolate Covered Oreos or Cake Pucks with our Shiny as Hell Edible Luster and a quick flick of a puffy brush? Check out all of these methods HERE
4) Edible Ribbon
Since the moment the ECG first laid hands on this incredible product, she knew it was a game changer! And this year, she's seen what the likes of Shawna of Cakeheads and Alison of Yuzu Yummies have done with a spool or two of this magical stuff! It's fridge-stable, shelf stable, and holds whatever shape you give it instantly while remaining flexible. We swear, no unicorns were harmed in the creation of this product, but it's so magical that you'd never guess! Check it out in action HERE
5) Metallic Royal Icing
Whether you're Stenciling, Piping, Flooding or Dripping, this EDIBLE Metallic Royal Icing Mix does not disappoint. The colors are beautiful true metallic tones, and this year people discovered that the Metallic Pearl Royal Icing Mix can be tinted with gel colors to make ANY color gloriously pearly! Read More HERE
6) The Frostinator
This remains the most hassle-free way to get crisp corners and level cake tops no matter what type of frosting you use. 2023 marked a resurgence of interest in The Frostinator as more complicated methods have fallen out of favor. The ECG still loves acrylic frosting guide plates, but she always finds herself grabbing for her Frostinator rather than hunting down her plates. Read more about all of our Combs HERE or even better: watch the ECG using hers to frost a buttercream cake in real time (and with a little finishing help by her Lil' Rolly) HERE And forgive her for not remembering which of you brilliant SMBC decorators it was, but whoever shared the tip to give the cake one go-round with the frostinator, then refrigerate it to firm up the icing before filling in any holes or top edge gaps has cut the ECG's frosting time in HALF since she shot that video!
7) Fillable Acrylic Separators and Stands
The ECG brought in these beautiful and versatile acrylic separators with the intention of filling them with fresh floral, lights, just about anything, but turns out the trend with them was to leave them empty and stencil a beautiful pattern on them with our opaque Mesh Stencil Royal Icing. Just goes to show, you guys always manage to out-genius the ECG. Check out all of our separators HERE
8) Cookie Cutter Embosser Sets
These new sets cut an emboss patterns for every holiday and everything in between! The ECG originally planned to emboss Chocolate Paste to cover cookies with these, but once she discovered that her ECG IncrEDIBLE paints worked directly onto the cookie, she found her new favorite Paint Your Own cookies method! Oh, and they work like a charm for pie crusts too! Read More HERE
9) Shiny As Hell Edible Lusters
Okies, the ECG knew that her Ginormous Edible Luster Dusts were a great value and worked on a wide range of surfaces, but this year she saw just how beautifully it paints full cake tiers when Tiers of Joy shared the cake above! The lusters mix with alcohol, lemon extract, or any paint activator (check out the new Vanilla Bean Flavored Color Flow) but we were particularly blown away when we saw Benty Cakes use them completely dry coupled with one of our Stay Put Stencils to stencil on Chocolate!! Our chocolate covered Oreos will never be the same again! Watch HERE
10) Layered Stencils by Killer Zebras
These multi-layer stencils are insanely cool and fun to work with! Best part is that they work with our ECG Airbrush Paints like an absolute charm, and for the top layer of stenciling, you can add pop with our Metallic Royal Icing. Watch the inventor herself in action with them during our Instagram LIVE with her HERE
